189. JANE GOODALL: The power of one

Dr. Jane Goodall is an environmentalist, humanitarian, author, UN Messenger of Peace and one of the most famous scientists alive. Her groundbreaking studies of chimpanzees changed our perception of our primate cousins and consequently, how humans looked at themselves.

Goodall was 23 when she first visited Africa and met the famous palaeontologist Louis Leakey. Although she didn’t have a university degree, Leakey was so impressed with Goodall’s knowledge of Africa and its wildlife, he hired her as his assistant. Goodall was the first of Leakey’s ‘Trimates’ who were chosen to study primates in the wild, the other two being Diane Fossey (gorillas) and Birute Galdikas (orang-utans). In 1960, aged 26, Goodall arrived at what is now known as Gombe National Park where she began her painstaking study of chimpanzees, living among them in their natural habitat.

Besides being the first human to be accepted into a chimpanzee community, Goodall made several pioneering discoveries. She was the first to record chimpanzees eating meat (they were previously believed only to be vegetarian) and use tools for finding food. Tool making was previously one of the traits that scientists believed made humans ‘special’, but with Goodall’s discovery that notion was shattered. Leakey famously said “Now we must redefine tool, redefine Man, or accept chimpanzees as humans.” Even though some experts criticised the unscientific methods of Goodall (she later earned her Ph.D in 1965), her findings were hugely important and defined our understanding of chimpanzees.

In 1977, Goodall founded The Jane Goodall Institute, dedicated to protecting chimpanzees, preserving their habitats and improving the world we all share. In 1991, she founded Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, a global youth program dedicated to environmentalism, which now has over 150,000 members in 130 countries. Goodall, at 81 years old, still works tirelessly today as an advocate for the planet and its wildlife, travelling for most of the year and spreading her message.

The passage used in this comic is taken from an article Goodall wrote for Time magazine in 2002. In it, Goodall outlines the reasons for hope she has for our planet despite the overwhelming odds facing us. Thankfully, Goodall has recently updated her article for 2016, which can be read in full here.

converting plastics into oxygen gas isn’t doable when polyethylene and polystyrene and polypropylene have no oxygen in them, and converting the plastics with oxygen in them into oxygen gas is extremely unfavourable, and the electrolysis of water would be easier…

You can convert any matter in any other thing. You can play with nuclear fusion and fision and get any kind of atom or manifestation of the energy such as photons, gluons or any other interexchange particle. Even going further into, up to now, science fiction, convert all the plastic into energy and the energy into atoms. The process is feasible 100%, and you can convert it with a ratio of 100%, just until you run up of fuel , or plastic in this case. Maybe now doesn’t look possible , but a 100 years ago the idea of 747, of a man on the moon , of the internet , remained to the realm of the science fiction.

What a mood lifter. Lately I have not been feeling very positive about the future of humanity. But Jane Goodall’s inspiring words and your captivating illustration of them have helped to return me to a more balanced perspective. THANK YOU.

Gav, I’ve read your comics hundreds of times, but I’ve never commented on one. I’m commenting in this, not because of the quote. No. I’m commenting because that story you just told, the story of our world that will definitely come true if we go on this way, is haunting. You have poured life into the smallest things to show our nature. iBreathe? That’s brilliant. Of course someone would want to monetize the situation.
The look on the baby’s face? It looked like Kal-El when his parents decided to shoot him off into space. Krypton didn’t have a chance. Our planet still does. We are all Jor El. We can choose to send our kids to space or show them blue skies.
Thank you. Thank you.

Beautiful, Gav! Brought tears to my eyes. Dr. Goodall spoke at my graduation from Rutgers University (New Jersey, USA) in 2005. She’s such an amazing woman, as a scientist and a champion for a healthy Earth.

You are wonderful human Gavin and you make new dimension to inspirational humans Dr. Goodall is a “Good Human” . To me you are doing good karma everyday. Keep going you will see” happiness in every moment”

It’s been awhile since I teared up to one of your comics. Not because they are not great, but because they are usually uplifting or hard hitting in spirit. But this one hits close to home, because people of my generation will be inhabiting the post climate changed world, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit idly by and do nothing about it.

Beautiful. Love this quote, and your illustrations (your STORY) add so much to the thought behind the words. Thank you for doing what you do. (For bringing such wonderful words to life – for bringing such wonderful words back into our consciousness – for publishing on the web)

Reading this comic was like watching a movie. One of your best yet. It’s eerie how perfect your images and Dr. Goodall’s words coincide, though I can only imagine how much work must go into making it seem so.

The valuable melding of ingenuity, technology and heart takes many forms and ZenPencils is definitely one of them. Thanks Gav!

Nausicaa is one of my favourite anime films of all time. This comic felt so nostalgic to read. Was the theme inspired by Nausicaa? Or was this a tribute to it? Either way, it was a great piece of work. Also, can’t wait for book 3.

Hi, Is that ‘Nausicaa of the valley of the wind’.. just saw another comment just above citing Nausicaa.. love the movie and love the reference here. Got both your books and will buy others when you release it. but i found the second one having less quotes than the first, by half. please do add more quotes to the 3rd book. Any way thanks for inspiring and doing good comics.

Hello Gav, I just wanted to say thank you for your work, I am a huge fan and would love to purchase more of your work as gifts. I bought a Shakespeare woodprint recently, and would love to see more like those available so that I could send them to friends and family.

I am so happy after this zenpencil today, Gavin, as usual, thank you so much.

Not only is the original message a heavy reminder to all, about what we must do in spite of our fears, our prejudices and faults, but your art is a powerful knell about a world we allow to be and do indeed help destroy.

Wow. I just wanted to say that, though the quotes you chose are always great, it’s the stories you craft and how you tell them that really makes this comic one of my favorite things on the internet. =) Thank you for another awesome, inspiring moment.

Really enjoyed your world-building in this one Gav. It seemed especially rich and detailed, and I felt like a real place. I wish I could give details as to why, but I can’t. It just worked.
The drawing of the clouds on the baby’s crib is gorgeous!
Her transport platform and outfit have a touch of the old Johnny Quest cartoon, too, which is a nice homage, if intentional.

While I have been a fan of Gavin’s work for a very long time, I’m concerned that this comic places too much faith in technology and the power of lone individuals. When I look at politics across the world – with right wing extremism on one end, and left wing liberalism on the other still confined by a national sense of resources and boundaries, I become skeptical. I think we’re far away from a world that is so free that it liberally allows for technology and idealism to take their course.

EPIC! Both quote and comic.
And for those chemists at the top – have a bit of imagination, this is not an actual proposal of a project … ITS A COMIC!! (you obviously got past all the realistic monsters from his previous comics)survive in bed review

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Thank you! This quote of hers has given me hope. I had already thought humans were goners (I can relate with that feeling of hopelessness), but reading her quote has given me a reason to believe that can is possible. If she can believe it, so will I.

This technology is hurting us, I say. I blame the microwave for most of our problems. Anything that gets that hot without fire, that’s from the devil. You don’t believe me, you put a hot pocket in there for three or four minutes, pop that thing in your mouth, if that’s not hell, ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know what is.